Artist Charlotte Zink looks forward to the East Boulder County Artists' annual studio tour for many reasons.

It's a chance to flee the isolation of her studio and hang out with other artists.

It's a chance to share her work with tour goers.

It's a free, family friendly event that crosses several communities in east Boulder County.

Maybe best of all, it's a great way to kick off the warm months, coming as it does every year at the beginning of May.

"It's a jump start for me, coming out of my winter hibernation," she said.

The studio tour is in its 14th year. In 2000, it included just 14 artists. This year, it features work by 52 artists, who will be greeting tour goers at locations in Longmont, Erie, Lafayette, Louisville and Superior. The self-guided tour is scheduled for 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Maps are available at the EBCA website, ebcacolorado.org.

Tour spokeswoman Wendy Wham Mills said the tour features many different kinds of artists and media, from painting to jewelry. She noted that part of the EBCA's mission is outreach, and its outreach goal involves "demystifying" art by letting visitors see artists at work.

"It's a real passion to share this art with people," Mills said, adding that visitors might be inspired to make art themselves. "I believe everybody has a soul of art in them; it's almost like they just need to find the correct medium."

The tour is an opportunity "to see where the magic happens," she said.

This year, more than in previous years, artists are forming groups at their exhibiting locations. This reduces the number of studios on the tour and makes it easier for visitors to see more artists. Maureen Riesco, for example, plans to show her work at fellow Louisville artist Chris Jehn's studio during the tour. Riesco said her own studio is not all that glamorous.

"I think it's easier on the public if we're grouped together, because they can see more artists on one visit and it limits how much they have to drive," Riesco said.

Zink plans to show her work at the Longmont studio of Stephanie Hilvitz, who will also host artist Elizabeth Hake.

Zink has exhibited several of the metal sculptures she creates with her husband, Ben Zink, in public places in Longmont, including permanent distance markers at McIntosh Lake. She sees the growth of the EBCA studio tour as part of a larger development of the Front Range arts scene.

"I really appreciate living in an area that is so supportive of their artists," Zink said.

Mills said Boulder once was thought of as the area's art mecca, but the art scene in east Boulder County has challenged that view.

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